A Guide For Leading A More Active Life
Getting enough movement is not as challenging as it seems at first glance. Any movement can positively contribute to your health and help you utilize your body’s energy. If you’re looking to live a more active lifestyle, here’s a guide on getting started.
Prioritize Your Time
How well you utilize your time will have an immense impact on your health. Indeed, success comes from the details. Leading a more active lifestyle begins with your capacity to manage your days and devote time for movement and exercise. Additionally, you want to find additional room within your day to squeeze in a workout and functional movement.
Start by creating a schedule mapping out a typical work week and circle times where you can find a few moments to stretch, get a short walk in, or be active in some other way. Look for fun ways to make the most of your time and buy yourself a water bottle gift to motivate you to stay hydrated.
Do Activities You Enjoy
An easy way to get more movement into your day is to do activities that you genuinely enjoy. For instance, if you look forward to playing tennis with your friend on the weekend, this will take little effort or motivation. You’ll enjoy playing tennis and probably not even focus on the fact that you’re exercising. Perhaps you enjoy a good bike ride, or a ride on your roller blades (just be sure to wear protective gear and find out your local traffic laws to find out things like “is lane splitting legal in california?”).
You want to capture this same free-spirited energy with as many fitness activities as possible. Some other ideas that may be enjoyable forms of exercise include kin yoga, hiking, and dancing.
Write Down Your Reasons
The ability to lead a more active lifestyle boils down to your mindset. Your thoughts about staying active will influence your willingness to do so. Create some affirmations around exercise and refer to these any time you feel a loss of motivation. Returning to why you’re doing something can be a helpful way to stay on track and continue pushing forward on those tough days.
Get Enough Rest
Your exercise will only be as good as the rest you get the night before. Make sure you’re sleeping well so you can wake up refreshed and ready to give it your all. Sleep helps us restore our energy so that when we work out, we can do our absolute best and achieve our fitness goals. If you struggle with sleep, consider reaching out to your doctor about sleep support, such as supplements like melatonin and magnesium. An eye mask may also be helpful to block out external light that may keep you awake at night.
Take Your Recovery Seriously
You’re bound to run into issues like sore muscles when you start exercising more regularly. Take your recovery seriously so you can be back on your feet quickly.
Consider foam rollers, ice baths, and restorative yoga practices as some ways to recover from strenuous workouts faster. Treat your body respectfully, and you’ll stay motivated to lead an active lifestyle more often.
Give Yourself Grace
Some days you won’t feel like exercising, and that’s okay. Everyone needs to take time off to chill. Give yourself grace if you fall short of your fitness goals, and remember to trust the journey. To lead a more active lifestyle, strive for balance, and keep going if you miss a workout.
The Bottom Line
Stay true to yourself and choose activities you enjoy. Rest as needed, and don’t push yourself too hard. To maintain motivation, give yourself some words of wisdom to refer to when you need them. Leading a more active lifestyle is about making the daily choices you need to make in order to stay consistent.
